Literary notes about stagger (AI summary)
The term "stagger" is employed with remarkable versatility, often conveying physical unsteadiness as well as metaphorical shock or overwhelming force. In some narratives, it vividly portrays a character’s uneven gait or loss of balance—as when a figure is depicted limping with a "slight stagger" while burdened with oddity ([1]) or when a person struggles to rise amid distress ([2], [3]). At the same time, the word assumes a more symbolic role, suggesting the destabilizing impact of events or ideas that may "stagger" a person’s resolve or beliefs ([4], [5], [6]). Even in poetry, it lends a rhythmic quality to the language, capturing both the physical and emotional tremors of existence ([7], [8]). This range of usage enriches the narrative, underlining the robustness with which authors evoke both tangible movement and inner turmoil.
- In front of him he saw, in the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder.
— from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - He tried to stagger to his feet; but he was still ghastly pale and trembling in every limb.
— from The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle - Ere he could stagger to his feet the Sikh was upon him, and buried his knife twice in his side.
— from The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle - The temptation was indeed of such magnitude as might stagger and corrupt the most obdurate virtue.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - He imagined that the war with Russia came about by his will, and the horrors that occurred did not stagger his soul.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - Surely, here was something to ponder over, as a step in education; something that tended to stagger a sceptic!
— from The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams - The rose did caper on her cheek, Her bodice rose and fell, Her pretty speech, like drunken men, Did stagger pitiful.
— from Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete by Emily Dickinson - Wintle, to stagger; to swing; to wriggle.
— from Poems and Songs of Robert Burns by Robert Burns
